Yonah Schiller

Founder & Chief R&D Officer, Common Era

Yonah Schiller is Founder of Common Era, an R&D platform exploring new critical futures in Jewish life and education. Common Era’s pioneering work collects data and insights, engages in a wide range of creative partnerships and seeds new ideas and initiatives. As an emerging operation, the platform has quickly grown to a network of more than 100 practitioners, thought leaders and entrepreneurs launching dozens of novel projects and interventions. Common Era is powered by the Jim Joseph Foundation, where Schiller serves as Chief R&D Officer.

Schiller has the unusual combination of receiving rabbinic ordination in Israel while holding an MBA with a focus on innovation from Tulane University. He has been named one of the 50 most influential American Jews by Forward magazine for having “revolutionized Jewish outreach using a model that is being examined and replicated across the nation.” Schiller has served as Special Projects Consultant and adjunct lecturer at the Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking at Tulane, in addition to serving as an instructor of Ecumenical Spirituality, Jewish Civilization and Mysticism. Additionally, he has served as a consultant on leadership development, community building, organizational strategy, impact and change management. A Brown University graduate, Schiller is also a visual artist focused on abstract mixed media work.